Car puller



July 28, 1931. F. T.'KERN 1,815,138

CAR fULLER Filed Aug. 30. 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 F. T. KERN CAR FULLER Filed Aug. 30. 1929 July 28,1931.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 j July 28. 1931.

F. 'r. KERN CAR FULLER Filed Aug. so, 1929 s Sheets-Sheet 3 Q X /////////;j

Patented July 28, 1931 um'reo STATES PATENT OFFICE Farm '1'.KER1\1, or MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN GAB FULLER Application filed. August 30, 1929. Serial No. 389,373.

up into a' train or picked up for shipments One of theprincipal objects of the present I invention is to provide a car puller of this character which is of simple, durable and compact c o n s t r u c t i o n, which operates smoothly and minimizes noise and vibration, which is easily reversible and which drives its drums either forwardly or reversely at variable speed and power ratios whereby empty cars may be moved at a rapid rate or at high speed when desirable and yet ample power at a slow speed is available for shifting loaded cars or for pulling a number of cars up grade.

7 Other objects and advantages reside in certain novel'features of the, construction, arrangement and combination of parts which will be hereinafter more. fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which: r 1 Figure 1 is a plan view of a car puller embodying the present invention, the guard casings for the gearing and other partsbe ing omitted for the sake of illustration;

Figure 2 is a view in end elevation looking toward the right in Figure 1 but showing the guard casings employed for the gearing in position; I g I Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrat-. ing how the car-puller is utilized to pull a car; i 7 vFigure 4 is a view in section taken on line of Figure 1, parts being shown in elevation and parts beingbroken away for the sake of simplicity in illustration;

v Figure 5 is a view in elevation showing the counter shaft and the clutch controlled gears thereof;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary detail view taken in section on line 6-,6 of Figure 1 and showing'the gearing employed for driving the drums forwardly from the counter shaft, parts being omitted and parts being shown in elevation for the sake of simplicity in illustration; and

Figure 7 is a similar view taken on line 7-7 of Figure 1 showing the gearing employed for reversely driving the drums from the counter shaft.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a base or frame on which a pair of drums, designated at 3 and 4, are mounted, the drums 3 and 4 having shafts 5 and 6 rotatably supported in bearings 7 secured to the frame 2. The drums 3 and 1 are provided with peripheral grooves 3 and 4 adapted to receive portions or turns of a cable designated generally at 8. The cable 8 extends in under the drum 3 up, over and around the drum 4 and back up, over and around the drum 3. This wrapping of the cable around the drums 3 and 4 is repeated a number of times so that the drums have suificient traction or gripping engagement with the cable to drive the same under heavy load.

Beyond the drums the ends of the cable are extended around pulleys 9 and 10 and thence to the axle A of a car C, the ends of the cable being releasably attached to the axle in any suitable way. In pulling the car one way, one end of the cable 8 is hauled in while the other is laid out. An opposite movement of the car requires, of course, a reverse movement of the cable. This cable actuation requires that the drums 3 and 4 be moved in opposite directions and to constrain the drums to so rotate they are provided with twin gears 11 fixed to their respective drums 3 and 1 or to their respective drum shafts 5 and 6 and intermeshing one with the other.

The present invention proposes to drive the drums in either forward or reverse direction and at either high or low speed in either forward or reverse and in carrying out this purpose a suitable motor designated generally at is secured and bolted to the base 1. The motor 15 may be an electrlc motor, an internal combustion engine or any other suitable type of power plant. As shown in Figure l, the motor shaft 16 1s coupled as at 17 to a drive shaft 18 which has its intermediate portion rotatably sup- 'mounted on a counter shaft rotatably supported in bearings 26 secured to the base of the machine. As illustrated in Figures 1, 4 and 5, the driving gear wheels 21 and 22. are of different diameters and the driven gear wheels 23 and'24 may also be ofdifferent diameters so that these gear wheels 21, 22, 23 and 24 providechange speed gear mechanism operable to drive the countershaft 25 from the drive shaft 18 at different speed and power ratios, that is','the gears 21 and 23 provide a low speed drive and the gear wheels 22 and 24 a high speed drive forthe counter shaft. As pointed out, the driven gear wheels 23 and 24- are loosely mounted on their countereshaft 25 but they are selectively clutched or fixed tothe counter-shaft by means of friction clutches designated at 27 and 28, the clutches being of well known construction and being thrown in or out by well known clutch operating mechanism designated at 29 and 30, the operating mechanism 29 and 30 for the respective clutches bein controlled from shifters 31 and 32 fulcrumed on the base and linkedas at 33 and 34 to crank arms 35 and 36 fixed on a control shaft 37 supported for oscillat ing movement in bearing brackets 39 and looked back or forth by a single hand lever 40. When the lever is moved in one direction it engages the clutch 27 and disen gages the clutch 28 and upon reverse movement the leveris operable to engage clutch 28 and disengage clutch 27. Between its two extremes of movement the lever 40 has a neutral position in which both clutches 27' and 28 are disengaged.

At either speed of the counter shaft it is proposed to drive the drums 3 and 4 either forwardly or reversely from the countershaft and for this purpose a forward driving gear 35 is loosely mounted on the counter shaft but is clutched thereto when desired by means of a friction clutch 36 (compare Figures 1 and 5). The gear 35 constantly meshes with a driven gear wheel 37 fixed to a rotatable sleeve shaft 38 (see Figure 4) fitted on the fixed-sleeve shaft 19 for rotation thereabout. A pinion 39 is also secured to the sleeve shaft adjacent the gear wheel 37 and this pinion 39 meshes with one of the twin gears 11 which, it will be remembered, are connected to the drums to constrain them to proper relative rotation.

The drums 3 and 4 are. drivenforwardly in either high or low speedjfromthe; countershaft 25, through the gear wheel 35, gear wheel 37, pinion 39, and twin gear 11 of drum 4. 7 i

For reversely driving the drums from the counter-shaft in either speed (compare Figures. 1 and 7 a gear wheel 40 is loosely mounted on the counter-shaft 25 but is clutched thereto when desired: by means. of a friction. clutch 41. The gear wheel 40 meshes with an intermediate.- gear 421' rotatably supportedon a; fixed shaft 43 FIIICl IILGShing with alarge-gear wheelz44afixedszt0:the end of the. rotatable. sleeve shaft. opposite the gear wheels thereof-1 Whenthe'clutcli' 41 is: engaged the counter-shaft: drives-the gear wheel 40. which,.i1r turn drives. the. intermediate gear and. this gear 42i meshing with the gear wheel; 44 and turns thesleeve. shaft'38 on which thegear'wheel44 isfi'xedi. and thereby also. rotates'thepinion 39 which as; previously described .meshes-. with the twin gear 11 of the; drum 4.. In this: way the. drumsare.reversely'driven.

. The clutches. 3.6 and 41 are" alternately thrown in and. out; from a. singlecoll ar' 50 slidably 'mounted on. the. counter-shaft'25 in between thesclutches. 3:6; and .41 and operative; 1y connected; with the. operating mechanism for'these clutchesintheusualmannerl The collar. 50? is. actuatedifrom' a". singleshziften' 51 having a form of a, bell crank and linked as at 52 to a crank arm 53 fixed'to a sleeve shaft 53' rotatably" mounted on the control shaft-37 and provided with: a. handlever 54. When the control lever 54 is moved: one direction, it rocksthe sleeve shafti53l 'and acts through the: link. 52: and shifter 51 to a slide the collar. in one. direction-to: engage the clutch 3,6 and disengage the clutch 41'. The reverse; movement of the lever '54 engages the clutch 4land throws out the. clutch 36. The control mechanism. insures thedisengagement of one. of the clutches 36- and 41 when the other. is engaged thereby precluding injury to the mechanism. The control lever 54 also has; anintermediate posi tion in which both. clutches 3.6 and 41 are. disengaged.

With the description above described, cars may be shifted. along track-ways rapidly and easily and maybe effectively spotted, that is, accurately positioned in front of a load ing station. The high speed drive-for the drums provides for rapid movement. of empty cars or even of loaded cars where the going is easy. Thelow speed high' power ratio makes it possible'to' movethe-cars A easily and expeditiously when loaded and to accurately spot them.

The invention claimed is:

1. A car puller of the character described comprising a pair of drums adapted to drive a cable, twin gears constraining the drums to rotate in opposite directions, a motor driven shaft, a counter-shaft, clutch controlled gearing for driving the counter-shaft at variable speed and power ratios from the motor driven shaft, a clutch controlled gear set for driving one of the twin gears of the drum forwardly from the counter-shaft and including a sleeve shaft having a pinion fixed thereto and meshing with one of the twin gears, and clutch controlled gearing for reversely rotating the sleeve shaft from the counter-shaft.

2. A car puller of the character described comprising a drum arrangement adapted to drive a car pulling cable in either direction, a motor driven shaft, a fixed sleeve shaft rotatably supporting an intermediate portion of the motor driven shaft, a counter-shaft, clutch controlled change speed gearing for driving the counter-shaft from the motor shaft at variable speed and power ratios, a rotating sleeve shaft mounted on the fixed sleeve shaft and geared to the drum arrangement, a clutch controlled forward driving gear set interconnecting the countershaft and the rotating sleeve shaft and a clutch controlled reversing gear set interposed between the counter-shaft and the rotating sleeve shaft. Y I

8. A car puller of the character described comprising a drum arrangement adapted to drive a car pulling cable in either direction, a motor driven shaft, a fixed sleeve shaft supporting said motor driven shaft, a counter shaft, a high speed gear set for driving the counter-shaft from the motor shaft, a clutch mounted on the counter-shaft controlling the action of the high speed gear set, avlow speed gear set for driving the counter-shaft from the motor shaft, a clutch mounted on the counter-shaft and controlling the action of the low speed gear set, a single control lever connected to said clutches for simultaneously engaging one and disengaging the other, forward and reverse driving gear sets between the countershaft and the drum arrangement, clutches mounted on the counter-shaft and controlling the operation of the forward and reverse driving gear sets, and a single lever for engaging one of the said last-mentioned clutches and simultaneously disengaging the other.

4. A car puller of the character described comprising a pair of drums adapted to drive a car pulling cable in either direction, twin gears constraining the drums to corresponding rotation, amotor driven shaft, a countershaft, change speed gearing for driving the signature.

FRED T. KERN. 

